The parents of an Italian girl are warning people of a TikTok challenge that went viral recently and claimed the life of their 10-year-old daughter.
Antonella strangled herself with a belt Wednesday following the guidelines of a TikTok challenge called “blackout.”
She was found unresponsive and arrived at the hospital in cardiac arrest with doctors declaring her brain dead from self-asphyxiation.
It was Antonella’s younger sister, 5, who came upon her unconscious while a second sister, 9, explained to the devastated parents that it was “part of a game” on TikTok.
“My daughter, my little Antonella, who dies because of an extreme game on TikTok, how can I accept it?” the distraught father who is now looking to donate his daughter’s organs said.
The “Blackout Challenge” is the latest version of another dangerous trend, “Passout Challenge”, and both aim to restrict the airflow causing a brief loss of conscience.
Palermo Police detectives are working to determine whether Antonella had been filming her suicide live on the platform, or if anyone was encouraging her to do it.
TikTok officials, in the meanwhile, denied having anything to do with the 10-year-old’s suicide:
“Our deepest sympathies are with the girl’s family and friends. We do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous behavior that might lead to injury, and our teams work diligently to identify and remove content that violates our policies.”
